Thread: Maine Coon not putting on weight

Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't think it's a parasite. With regular Advocate since we took Martha home and now having treated her with Panacur her poops have not got back to normal. They started to firm up a bit and get darker, but they have gone backwards again and are yellow, very loose, and have mucus with them today.

She seemed to have perked up a bit, but she doesn't seem to be thriving like she should and her system clearly isn't getting back to normal, so not sure what else it could be other than something more serious.

We've made an appointment with the vets for Wednesday and will see what they say, no doubt the next step is blood and the more waiting :(

Dear Quass,
I'm sorry I can offer no knowledge or expertise in your case, but just wanted to write how sorry I am to read about poor Martha and the stress you are going through. Wishing you lots of luck for Wednesday at the next vet's appointment x

Originally Posted by brightlight23

Dear Quass,
I'm sorry I can offer no knowledge or expertise in your case, but just wanted to write how sorry I am to read about poor Martha and the stress you are going through. Wishing you lots of luck for Wednesday at the next vet's appointment x

Same here - but am keeping Martha in my thoughts, poor little thing.

Originally Posted by quass

Well, I'm sorry to say that I don't think it's a parasite. With regular Advocate since we took Martha home and now having treated her with Panacur her poops have not got back to normal. They started to firm up a bit and get darker, but they have gone backwards again and are yellow, very loose, and have mucus with them today.

She seemed to have perked up a bit, but she doesn't seem to be thriving like she should and her system clearly isn't getting back to normal, so not sure what else it could be other than something more serious.

We've made an appointment with the vets for Wednesday and will see what they say, no doubt the next step is blood and the more waiting :(

Results from blood tests should be pretty quick,ours are picked up by a courier at 8pm & we start getting the first faxes back by lunchtime the next day so hopefully...???
Just feel soory for little Martha having to have them done,I hate when we have to vampire little furries so give her cuddles from me & tell her to be very brave it doesn't last long...xxx

Thanks all, she likes to snuggle up on our laps and with us and it doesn't 'seem' to be bothering her. She's had another couple of poops and they were nearly normal! I think I am driving myself crazy by analyzing everything so much including her weight several times a day. Someone popped over today and said she looked bigger? I bought the consult forward to tomorrow anyway.

Here's a couple of pics of her half asleep on the sofa bless.

I have to agree she does look fuller in the face bless her,better a paranoid owner than one who ignores signs,we luv it when clients come in with a list of observations they have made,surprising how a little thing can point the vet in the right direction....
Good luck for tomorrow Martha hope things go very well for you....xxx

I hope her consultation went well. She looks such a sweet girl. Hoping she makes a full recovery soon x

Thanks for the comments.

She definitely doesn't like the royal cannin meat any more, we switched her to plain old felix kitten in jelly which she seems to love and she is still eating the adult biscuits. Content wise they are similar, they do have wheat in as does the kitten food, but the main difference is less fat content. She is eating lots, certainly has a big appetite, and she drinks well too.

Our vet advised that there was nothing out of the norm in the stool sample we gave them. We've also been treating with advocate and now panacur. They said we could try another course of panacur while waiting for further tests.

They did an ultrasound to check for fluids and couldn't see anything abnormal. They have now taken blood to do a full analysis, including FeLV, FIV, FIP and liver function etc. They are doing some results in the clinic while others will take 10 days and be sent off. I'm hoping we hear back on the more serious ones very soon. Naturally having another cat we are even more anxious now than before.

In terms of how she is, she is sleepy, but she always has been, she slept most of the yesterday evening and night. She did one perfectly normal poop yesterday morning, but then it soon returned to multiple yellow, pulpy smelly stools again and was the same this morning, so she clearly still is not well.

We've also now got some panzyme powder on the way to try with her for 48 hours when received to see if this helps her to absorb the nutrients in her food, as I assume this is one of the main problems she has.

Other than trying the powder when it arrives we are now just playing the waiting game again - not fun. Once the blood results are all back if they are clear the next step the vet recommended was an X-ray and further ultrasounds.

As time goes on I'm finding it more difficult to remain positive but I really hope it's something that can be easily fixed, and that it is found soon.

My feelings are that if it was something really serious that she was unlikely to recover from she wouldn't have the up times that she does it would be all downhill,now fingers crossed I am right.....! The FIP test takes a while to come back & it is one that I still don't fully understand,I did know of one that tested positive but she didn't grow & went one way,downhill very quickly,FELV shouldn't really be of a concern if the breeders cats were tested which they should be before breeding & then if they were vaccinated as well it should rule that one out,FIV don't know when we last had one with that but....! If it is something metabolic then the lower fat adult cat food could have been of good benefit to her,with that & the panzym powders it will be interesting to see what happens. How was her weight ?

I admit I have been annoyed by the vets, especially when I suggested changing food in the first instance and they said to feed her 'whatever suited me' and there was no point experimenting with diet until the fecal sample came back. Well, the sample results were back after 10 days and we were no further forward :(

Luckily we changed her diet anyway as she started to go off of her own food, and thankfully she has been eating very well since. They said the same thing about blood, other than trying panacur again while waiting there was no other advice. We've decided to try the supplement to see if it aids her digestion.

We haven't had any breathing issues, coughing, seizures, sneezing, and discharge from eyes etc or bloody stools. The constants at the moment are lack of growth / nutrition, yellow loose stools and watery eyes. She however eats lots, drinks well, and poops several times a day.

The vet said her heart sounded strong and that her gums / membranes etc were full of colour, her breathing also sounded spot on.

We've recently changed her diet, so I think we have decided now to finish this second course of panacur to rule out an ellusive Giardia infestation, try the powder to assist her pancreas / liver function and hopefully we will have results back.

If everything is clear and the treatment we are giving her this week doesn't work then we need to investigate other causes, I'll take note of what you've said thank you.